Spieth, in a scheduled news conference in advance of this week’s British Open at Royal Troon, called it “probably the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make in my life at 22 years old.’’

After answering a perfunctory softball question from the moderator, Spieth said with a smile, “I can already see by far that’s going to be the easiest question I receive.’’

And so began what had the feel of a public inquisition as Spieth was peppered with Olympics-related questions. In all, 14 of the 18 questions had to do with the Olympics.

“Why was [the decision] so hard? Because I’m a huge believer in Olympic golf,’’ Spieth said. “I’m a huge believer in playing for your country, showing I absolutely look forward to Summer and Winter Olympics. It’s the most exciting sporting event for me to watch on TV, and to have a chance to be a part of it is something I definitely look forward to trying to do.

“This year I just had to try and weigh a risk that doesn’t present itself every year, and just at the time that I had to make the decision, I just felt this was the right move for me. Not everybody’s going to understand. Nobody’s going to understand what it’s like in my shoes.

“It came down to just a very personal decision that, again, I don’t expect anybody to understand, but trust that I believe I’m making the right decision for myself for my future and for those around me.’’

Spieth went on to say that it’s going to be “a very, very difficult thing for me to do to watch the opening ceremonies and watch my peers compete for a gold medal or any medal for that, and watch people stand on the stage and hear the National Anthem playing.

“I certainly have thought about all that, and it’s something I’ve looked forward to since [golf in the Olympics] was announced,’’ he said. “But I’ll make it a goal to be at Tokyo in 2020.’’

Asked how long he’ll “carry’’ the decision with him, particularly as he tries to focus on winning his first British Open, Spieth did not shy away from the question.

“I will continue to carry it with me through these Games and for a while, I think, personally,’’ Spieth said. “It’s that tough … the most difficult decision that I’ve ever had to make. It will loom over me throughout the Olympic Games, for sure. I will be, I’m sure, at times pretty upset that I’m not down there.

“I’ll be texting with Rickie [Fowler], obviously, throughout as a good friend of mine. I thought about all of this ahead of time and still made the decision I did because it was the right move for me.’’

Spieth was honest and eloquent throughout the interview, but the one area he left somewhat vague was the specific reason he opted out.

“Health concerns were my reason,’’ Spieth said.

When a reporter cited the fact that there have been cases of the Zika virus in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas, places where Spieth has played, he became mildly defensive and told the reporter that he didn’t “cite’’ Zika as the reason, “So please don’t do that for me.’’

“I can tell you that I’m not specifically pinpointing any one thing in my health concerns either,’’ he said. “You guys [reporters] have put that without me saying it. This is health concerns as a whole.’’

A couple of weeks ago, at the WGC-Bridgestone Championship in Akron, Ohio, Spieth spoke of his concern about the high crime rate in Rio and questionable security. He clearly did not want to revisit those topics Tuesday.

Spieth plays a practice round at Royal Troon.Reuters

Rather, he continued to talk about how difficult the decision was for him to make, calling it “harder than trying to decide what university to go to, whether to turn professional and leave school.’’

“This was something I very much struggled with,’’ he said. “I bounced back and forth with it.’’

Spieth also declined to be specific about whom he consulted with while assessing his decision.

“No, that’s personal,’’ he said.

The public peppering of Spieth had a lot to do with the fact that he was the last of the big names to pull out, following Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Dustin Johnson as the top four players in the world.

“I certainly didn’t want to have to do this during major week,’’ Spieth said. “Obviously, would have rather had the focus be on the Open Championship, but it hasn’t been the beginning of this week. Hopefully it will after I leave this room.

“Do I think it looks bad on golf? Maybe. Again, I’m making the decision of what I think is best for me. I don’t feel like I have to carry the torch — see what I did there? — for the sport or anyone else. This is bigger than that for me personally.’’

Spieth said he would not play the John Deere Classic, the PGA Tour event that will be played concurrent with the Olympic Games, an event he’s won twice in his last three tries.

“I don’t think it would be an appropriate move to play that week given our decision on the Olympics, so I will not be playing that week,’’ he said.

Spieth said he, Johnson and Fowler are staying in a house together this week, and the three spoke often about the decision of whether to play in Rio. When he came to his decision Monday, he texted Fowler and told him: “Rick, I’m sorry, buddy, but I’m not going to be joining you down there this year. Sorry about that. I’m obviously going to be rooting for you, bud.”

Fowler’s response: “No worries. I know you had to make it just for you. You’re just going to be jealous when I get that gold.”